Introducing twentyeightc: A new creative agency crafting with purpose in healthcare communications FIND OUT MORE

twentyeightb

Introducing twentyeightc: A new creative agency crafting with purpose in healthcare communications FIND OUT MORE

Category: CLM Pro

CLM Pro

Driving iCVA Channel Excellence for a US-Based Global Pharma

By Giorgio Favarulo /

Transforming HCP engagements with iCVAs

In today’s competitive pharmaceutical landscape, engaging healthcare professionals (HCPs) effectively is paramount. Our case study reveals the strategic approach, implementation, and significant impact of partnering with twentyeightb that enabled our client to revolutionise their sales strategy. Keen to learn how to enhance customer engagement, optimise sales calls, and drive meaningful change in patient care through interactive, core visual aid (iCVA) channel excellence? Here’s our blueprint.

The situation

Our client, a US-based large global Pharma manufacturer, is set on becoming industry leaders in enabling their field teams to orchestrate great customer experiences that support brand differentiation and improve outcomes for more patients.

To achieve this, the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) issued a directive to transition all brands from using paper and static CVAs to data-enabled iCVAs over a period of eight months.

With the desire to move at speed, there were obvious implications for the organisation in regard to time, money and stress.

The large Pharma manufacturer’s Omnichannel Strategy team recognised a lack of prior experience within the organisation in creating best-in-class full HTML iCVAs. Moreover, due to growing concerns that the lack of creative agency expertise in iCVA creation could lead to long-term inconsistencies across the organisation, the Omnichannel Strategy team wanted an innovative solution to achieve long-term iCVA channel excellence.

Approach

Our journey with the large Pharma manufacturer began with a website enquiry from a brand team who were keen to kickstart their iCVA creation process.

At twentyeightb, we believe in equipping our clients with the right mindset, skillset and toolset to create best-in-class iCVAs, that the field team wants to use. To ensure iCVA best practices were embedded into the creation process from the first iteration, we directly started working with brand teams through twentyeightb’s live co-creation offering, and worked cross-functionally with Omnichannel Strategy and Global Commercial Operation teams to craft organisational standards for long-term best practices.

Enable field teams to share content in meetings directly to the HCPs devices and avoid tech set up issues (we love this one!)

“We selected twentyeightb to be our strategic partner in developing and building our first interactive HTML sales aid based on their innovative approach and agility within this space.

Having completed both our initial project and several rounds of updates, we couldn’t be happier with our decision. twentyeightb’s wealth of expertise in rep enablement, customer engagement, and creation of innovative Veeva-based CRM tools has helped us deliver what has become the gold standard for interactive sales aids across the therapeutic areas of our large pharmaceutical company.

The launch of the iCVA developed by twentyeightb has led to significant impact across the customer journey, unlocking opportunities for additional time with customers, enabling deeper engagement within product discussions and informing our omnichannel ecosystem – ultimately driving meaningful change in patient care.”

Associate Marketing Director, US

Working above-brand with Omnichannel Strategy, we developed three deliverables around iCVA practice:

  1. An Interactive in-Veeva Learning Tool, developed using our proprietary selling effectiveness data, which provided brand teams with comprehensive training around the design principles and functionalities of an iCVA.
  2. An iCVA Channel Excellence Brand Guide, which took inspiration from our ongoing collaboration with the large Pharma manufacturer and our extensive industry experience around twentyeightb’s pillars of best practice.
  3. An iCVA Data & Analytics Guide, which shaped the whole organisation’s strategy and standards on clickstream data, as well as other supporting analytics, such as programmatic writing to the field team’s pre-call planning dashboard, enabling meaningful and actionable customer insights for sales, marketing and support teams.

Incorporating a “hearts and minds” approach into the iCVA creation process was crucial for setting brand teams up for success. As part of our launch support, we attended their monthly marketing forum, emphasising the “what’s in it for me” piece to win the hearts and minds of brand teams and ensuring they realised the benefits of the iCVA creation process.

Impact

Through our live co-creation service offering, all brands successfully developed and launched fully data-enabled, best-in-class iCVAs with improved iCVA adoption and longer sales calls.

Every brand team was strategically aligned to twentyeightb’s best practice pillars:

  1. Sales Alignment, by introducing customer insight questions to unlock customer needs and supporting objection handling in the moment
  2. Usability, by establishing content hierarchy to support the field team in effectively navigating content for a variety of call scenarios and lengths
  3. HCP Experience, by optimising legibility across all call scenarios and ensuring interactions generate meaningful conversations
  4. Integration & Optimisation with Veeva features such as Approved Email and dynamic content as well as external marketing system customer journeys
  5. Data & Analytics, capturing and reporting customer and content insights to be meaningful and actionable for brand teams through Clickstream and dashboards, and for the field team through pre-call planning tools
  6. Hearts & Minds, by engaging with the field team to enhance buy-in and value of iCVA content

“The iCVA, especially the insights questions, have led to more time with my HCPs. Customers that used to spend 30 seconds have been staying for 5-10 minutes because I am seeking their feedback and input through the call.”

Key Account Manager, US

One brand team from the large Pharma manufacturer also noted that iCVA usage had an exponential impact on New-to-Brand Prescription (NBRx) growth across all HCP touchpoints. When iCVAs were implemented across three HCP touchpoints: face-to-face interactions (F2F), virtual calls and emails, there was an increase in NBRx of up to 131% compared to F2F alone. This demonstrates the notable impact that iCVAs can have on selling discussions, orchestrating great customer experiences that capture and maintain the attention of HCPs, while supporting the field team in sequential calls to add continued value over time.

Since then, our reach within the organisation has expanded to over 10 iCVAs across multiple brands.

“Apart from their strategic thought leadership and technical strengths, the twentyeightb team has been an absolute pleasure to work with and we would recommend them to any brand looking to take their rep enablement and customer engagement to the next level.”

Associate Marketing Director, US

We are delighted to continue our partnership with our client to expand the value of iCVA channel excellence across several brand teams. Upon learning about our collaboration with Omnichannel Strategy, the large Pharma manufacturer’s Medical team reached out with an interest in channel excellence for support on furthering institutional best practice around medical content. We are also in close partnership with the large Pharma manufacturer’s Global team to redefine the way global content adds value to local markets, regardless of what content is currently being used, to bridge the global-local divide and drive content excellence at scale.

Want to enable and empower your field team to be the orchestrators of great customer experiences?

Please reach out and book a meeting today to discuss your journey and how we can help.

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Event

Unpacking “Customer Engagement Excellence”

By Giorgio Favarulo /

Key Takeaways from Digital Pharma: Unlocked

The pharma industry is no stranger to buzzwords. If you take a moment, you can probably think of a few that have gained traction over the years. One of the most noticeable shifts we’ve seen recently is in job titles. Roles once defined by ‘Digital’ or ‘Omnichannel’ are now framed around ‘Customer Engagement’ or ‘Customer Experience.’ The key word? Customer.

But does this shift signal a real transformation in how pharma operates, putting the customer at the heart of its strategy? Or is it simply another industry trend, more about optics than true change?

Digging Deeper: A Conversation with Industry Leaders

To explore this, we hosted a webinar with a panel of industry experts, opening the discussion to our audience. Our panel featured:

  • Lishan Dubois Halimi (Global Head of Marketing & Customer Experience)
  • Nina Fyhn (Commercial Excellence Manager)
  • Helge Tennø (Strategy & Innovation Expert)
  • Henriette Lonkvist (Global Head of Customer Relationship Management)
  • James Harper (Founder, 28b)

If you missed the live session, you can catch up on demand here

Who is the Customer?

A key discussion point was who we mean when we say ‘customer.’ While patients are the ultimate beneficiaries of our work, the primary customers in a pharmaceutical context are Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) including physicians, pharmacists, nurses etc. Recognising the nuances between these groups is critical to crafting truly effective engagement strategies.

Helge  made a thought-provoking statement: “Supermarkets have customers. The pharmaceutical industry does not.”

This perspective underscores a fundamental difference. Pharma’s engagement with HCPs isn’t transactional in the same way as traditional customer relationships. It requires a more sophisticated, needs-based approach.

Beyond Buzzwords: What Does True Customer-Centricity Look Like?

It is easy to talk about customer engagement, but true customer-centricity requires a shift in mindset rather than just new job titles or technology. Nina emphasised: “We are very internally focused, thinking about what we want to send. However, we need to change this approach. We need to ask: what do Healthcare Professionals find valuable?” Helge added: “It is not about the customer. It is about how we drive value by changing behaviour. To change behaviour, we must provide something truly valuable.”

Breaking Barriers for a Unified Customer View

A major theme of the discussion was the importance of breaking down silos between marketing, sales, medical, and other departments. A unified view of the customer is essential, and this requires seamless communication and collaboration. Lishan shared: “If you don’t break the silos, the impression that we give to our customers is that we are not connected.” Using tools like customer journey mapping was highlighted as a way to bring different functions together and identify pain points.

From Vanity Metrics to Meaningful Insights

We discussed the need to move beyond vanity metrics (e.g. open rates) and focus more on gathering and acting on meaningful customer insights, to reflect true customer engagement. Henriette challenged the industry’s reliance on surface-level data: “We get excited about high open rates. However, is that real success?”

CRM systems play a crucial role in capturing valuable information, but it’s essential to analyse and use that data to improve customer experiences. Lishan shared a common challenge: “We collect vast amounts of data, but without an automated way to analyse feedback, it is difficult to extract real value.” The key takeaway is that technology should support insight-driven decision-making rather than serve as an end in itself.

The Power of Clear and Specific Language

One key takeaway was the importance of precision in language. Broad terms like ‘omnichannel’ can lead to confusion. Helge advised: “Rather than asking, ‘Who is the customer?’, ask, ‘What are their specific needs and situations?’ That shifts the conversation.” Nina added: “Be specific. Are we referring to a pharmacist, a physician, or a nurse?”

How Customer-Centric is Pharma, Really?

Ultimately, a customer-centric mindset is the foundation for success. Henriette wisely said: “Keep the people at the heart of everything you do.” It’s about genuinely caring about and understanding the customer, not just ticking boxes or following a checklist. Simply changing job titles or implementing technology without a genuine shift in perspective won’t lead to real change.

We polled our audience with the question: How often does your organisation work in a truly customer-centric way?

  • 2% responded never
  • 21% responded rarely
  • 55% responded occasionally
  • Only 12% responded consistently

The results highlight the gap between intention and execution, showing that the pharmaceutical industry still has work to do.

Practical Steps to Improve Customer-Centricity

  1. Ask the Right Questions – As Nina stated: “What do you actually need from us? How can we deliver it in the best way?“
  2. Joint Planning and Alignment – Ensure teams collaborate and work towards shared goals.
  3. Mindset First, Tools Second – Customer engagement  begins with people rather than technology.
  4. Keep it Simple – Henriette advised: “Do not overcomplicate it. Keep it simple from the start.“
  5. Remove Organisational Barriers – Foster collaboration between departments to create a seamless experience for Healthcare Professionals.

Final Thoughts

Achieving customer engagement excellence is an ongoing journey. It requires commitment, collaboration, and a shift in thinking rather than just a change in job titles. As Henriette wisely stated: “Keep people at the heart of everything you do.”

“Our panel began laying the gauntlet down for those with ‘customer excellence’ titles to really, truly question whether they are putting the customer at the heart of everything they do. However one panel cannot change an industry mindset, as hard as they may try! As an industry we must stop paying lip service to the needs of HCPs and treat it as a moral obligation not to waste their valuable time. I hope this discussion sparks some change for good, no matter how small an initial spark!”

James Harper, Founder twentyeightb

Let us continue the conversation. Join our Digital Pharma: Unlocked community on LinkedIn to stay engaged and updated.

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CLM Pro

10 Most Under-Utilised Veeva CRM/CLM Features

By James Harper /

Setting up for CRM success in 2025

We began our 25 things to watch out for in 2025 series by exploring the 5 big things shaping the world of CRM, from Veeva Vault’s growing adoption to the rising importance of first-party data. Then, we turned our attention to field sales excellence, breaking down the 10 fundamentals that drive high-performing teams.

Here, we’ll focus on maximising your CRM’s potential. Too often, powerful Veeva CRM and CLM features sit under-utilised, resulting in missed opportunities to streamline workflows, enhance HCP engagement, and fuel data-driven decision-making. From dynamic content and clickstream tracking to smarter email tools and call reporting, these under-utilised capabilities can deliver serious impact if you put them to work.

10 Most Under-Utilised Veeva CRM/CLM Features:

1. Email Builder

More flexibility in creating personalised rep-triggered emails

2. Dynamic Content

Create beautiful personalised digital leave-pieces bespoke to each HCP and the output from the sales call

3. HCP Player

Self–led details to reach those hard to see HCPs or share no primary campaigns and data

4. Remote CLM

Enable field teams to share content in meetings directly to the HCP’s devices and avoid tech set up issues (we love this one!)

5. Vault Hosted Content Sharing via VAE

Delivers extreme agility, cost savings and incredible speed to market as once content is approved in PromoMats, you have a link ready to go!

6. Email Fragments

These have been available for donkey’s years but are still massively underutilised – used properly they can significantly reduce cost, time, compliance burden…please start using them!

7. VAE Deep Links

VAE  deep links that use the AccountID token to track HCPs from Veeva through to their journey through your website

8. Clickstream Events

Capture content and customer insights to collect that all important first-party data that will supercharge your omnichannel activities and power your future AI solutions

9. MyInsights Studio CDMs

MyInsights Studio CDMs to customise call reports and enhance field team workflows and encourage field teams to stay on top of that all important data

10. MyInsights / X-Pages Workflow Tools

MyInsights/X-Pages workflow tools and dashboards to enhance territory and selling effectiveness and boost Key Account Planning and Multichannel Cycle Planning

Want to learn more?

Please reach out if you think we can help you with any of the above and if you are interested in learning more.

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CLM Pro

10 Fundamentals For Field Sales Excellence

By James Harper /

Setting up for CRM success in 2025

We kicked off our series on the 25 things that should be on your radar in 2025 with a deep dive into the 5 big things shaping the world of CRM. From Veeva Vault CRM’s  momentum to Salesforce’s newfound freedom to compete, and the rising importance of first-party data, one thing was clear – the way Pharma engages with HCPs is evolving and it is evolving fast.

But even the most advanced CRM is only as powerful as the field teams using it. Which brings us to our next focus: Field Sales Excellence.

Winning in the field  isn’t about working harder – it’s about working smarter. The best teams use data-driven targeting, aligned content, and seamless CRM integration to engage customers effectively. In this article, we break down 10 key fundamentals that set high-performing field teams apart.

10 Fundamentals For Field Sales Excellence:

1. Effective Targeting Process

Effective agile targeting process based on brand strategy and relevant data sources – not just field team preference

2. Adoption Ladder in CRM

Brand strategy aligned adoption ladder visible in CRM that the field team believe in and review regularly

3. Attitudinal Segmentation in CRM

Behavioural Segmentation the field team are onboard with and that is added to CRM via a typing tool to ensure rigour and accuracy

4. Strategic Content Creation Plan to Align Content to Adoption Ladder and Behavioural Segmentation

Strategic content creation plan to align content to adoption ladder and behavioural segmentation including:

5. Selling Scenario Based Data-Enabled Digital Sales Aids

Sales scenario based Data-Enabled Digital Sales Aids – short, easy to use and that capturing content and customer insights to CRM

6. Rep-Triggered Email Suite

Rep-Triggered Email Suite of templates and fragments aligned to segmentation and adoption ladder that enable the field team to orchestrate customer experience over time

7. Clickstream/Data Strategy

CRM Data Strategy for simple, meaningful capture and reporting of data to inform content usage, rep behaviours and customer insights

8. Dashboards

In workflow dashboards and tools to present data to the field team in a meaningful actionable way

9. Consent Strategy, Platform and Integration with CRM

Veeva CRM is not a consent platform, it is a consent channel, so it needs integrating with a proper consent platform that can manage multiple consent channels and a central consent status for each customer.
Make sure you have a clear consent acquisition strategy supported by high value content and an engaged field team.…. “just get the reps to ask for consent” is not a strategy

10. Engage on Mindset and Skillset

Engage the field team on all of the above and focus on mindset and skillset before you jump to the toolset. Understand current limitations and needs through field visits, interviews and surveys, act on the feedback by removing friction where you can and most importantly, work hard to demonstrate the value to them of the technology (WIIFM), adopt a co-creation “one team” attitude and share every success however small.

Want to learn more?

Please reach out if you think we can help you with any of the above and if you are interested in learning more about the all new twentyeightc and how they craft with purpose, head to www.28c.co.uk.

Look out for our 10 most under-utilised Veeva CRM/CLM features coming next.

 

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CLM Pro

5 Big Changes Coming in the Pharma CRM Space

By James Harper /

Setting up for CRM success in 2025

2025 is set to be an exciting year for twentyeightb –  from launching twentyeightc, our new creative agency that crafts with purpose, to helping our first Veeva Vault CRM clients make the most of this exciting new platform. But what about you? What should you be looking out for in 2025 that will accelerate the success of your brand, your team or your agency?

Over the next three weeks we will be sharing 25 golden nuggets of wisdom that we might help you to set up for success in  2025, starting this week with….

5 big things in the world of CRM:

1. Veeva Vault CRM

With at least 30 smaller pharma companies actively using Veeva’s all new CRM solution in 2025 and some big hitters, like GSK, committing to fully transition before the year end, there will be lots of lessons to learn for others as they consider whether or not to migrate or move away from Veeva to alternatives like Salesforce’s LifeSciences Cloud.

2. Salesforce is off the leash

With Veeva moving their CRM solution off the platform, Salesforce are now free to compete directly with the life sciences behemoth. With a strategic partnership with IQVIA and their OCE solution, will the $9 billion corporation be a genuine threat to the monopoly Veeva have managed to secure in pharma? Either way, healthy competition can only be a good thing, and it may be worth keeping your eyes out for some of the smaller more innovative disruptors looking to take advantage as the titans brawl it out.

3. Veeva turn their attention to MedTech and Animal Health

On the flip side, with the end of the contract with Salesforce, Veeva are now free to proactively sell into the MedTech and Animal Health spaces, which was evident by the notable number of representatives from those sectors popping up at the Veeva Summit in Madrid last year.

4. CRM hygiene and brilliant basics

Regardless of whether migrating to Veeva Vault CRM, or switching to Salesforce Life Sciences, every pharma will/should be looking at how healthy and fit for purpose their current solution is so that it is ready for a move. Think of the analogy of moving house, if you get the packers in before you have sorted out and got rid of the things you don’t need (or even emptied the bins) then all that rubbish will end up being packed into a box and moved into your lovely new house. Now is the right time to clean house and make the basics brilliant.

5. Aggressive drive for first-party data

I knew we would not get away without mentioning AI, but at least it is tangentially related… with Pharma making heavy investments in AI expect to see a real focus on securing new data sources. Data is the fuel AI runs on and the better the data, the more effective that AI will be. However, third party data can be very expensive and it is also available to anyone with deep enough pockets, including your competitors. So the all important key competitive differentiator will be the strength of your owned first party data. What is one of the most important sources of such data, I hear you ask? Your field team. Yet pharma seem very slow to maximise this significant opportunity, when all it takes is a well set up CRM, an engaged field team and the materials and tools that are designed to capture data in a consistent and rigorous way. We have been working with several clients on exactly this and I guarantee it will give them a serious competitive advantage when they come to implement their AI solutions.

Please reach out if you think we can help you with any of the above and if you are interested in learning more about the all new twentyeightc and how they craft with purpose, head to www.28c.co.uk.

Look out for our 10 fundamentals for field sales excellence coming next.

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five remote engagement pillars
CLM Pro

Five key pillars of digital sales aids for remote engagement

By Nick Woolnough /

In all professional settings, conversing and presenting information over video calls has become second nature. While we all may have adapted to become digital natives in these remote tools, in the pharmaceutical industry the question still lingers – are remote engagements as impactful as face-to-face meetings?

We believe that they can be, so long as the mindset and toolset of the KAM or rep is right and that the materials at their fingertips have been created with a remote-first approach. You may have a Vault full of digital content for your reps to share, but how does it measure up against our five pillars of functional content?

Over the past 18 months we’ve seen an incredible amount of digital content being produced for use by reps and KAMs. With remote meetings established as the norm, leveraging CLM player features and functional content can significantly uplift the success rate of a call with an HCP.

Collaborative content design

When the tables turned and presentations to HCPs went from predominantly in-person to almost overwhelmingly remote, DSA content and rep presentation style needed to quickly adapt to the technology. While reps have now had plenty of time to adjust to this blended way of working, not all agencies and brand teams have adjusted their approach to content creation accordingly.

Co-creation has always been important in improving the uptake and performance of digital sales aids, however it is more important than ever to work with reps on the navigation and flow of key messages to support a successful sales call – regardless of whether it is in-person or remote.

Functional, interactive content

According to STEM Healthcare research, “high quality, emotive, interactive eDAs deliver a 71% improvement in ‘good sell outcomes’ compared to simple eDAs.”

Quite simply, too many sales aids are little more than a lovingly-designed PDF. They may look nice, but they lack function, which in turn reduces the level of engagement that a rep is able to generate during a call. There are so many ways of employing simple, but impactful interactive functionality within DSAs to record insights such as key referrer or prescribing data, which creates a two way dialogue and saves great insights to the CRM post-call.

Leveraging integrations and native functionality

A really effective key account plan will see a seamless dialogue with the HCP over the course of a certain period of time. Failing to follow up on a call can very quickly break that flow – and at busy times this is the sort of thing that can so easily be missed.

The best sales aids make use of in-built functionality, such as triggering Veeva Approved Emails from within a call. Sharing this specific, tailored information is an ideal way of gaining consent if not already sought and for continuing the conversation beyond the call itself. Veeva are constantly enhancing the feature set available within calls – as our write up of their most recent 22R3 deployment will testify.

Measuring effectiveness with custom analytics

Call clickstream data is somewhat under utilised and should provide brand teams with all the data they need to audit the effectiveness of their materials. Custom analytics that goes far beyond just recording the duration of the call is achievable, meaning that genuine insights can be gathered on which key messages are resonating, which slides are underused and a whole host of other custom functions.

The next step is harnessing this data in a meaningful way using Veeva MyInsights dashboards, however you need a strategy for data collection from the outset so don’t rush into production without a measurement plan!

Training and field team adoption

While much of the above focuses on having the right toolset, there is also a lot to be said for supporting reps around mindset. Not all presentations can be delivered in the same manner remotely as they would have been face-to-face, so training around an effective close is incredibly important.

In addition, if time and thought has gone into what can be measured, then CRM and commercial teams need to work with the field team to ensure they understand the value of the data. A good measurement plan includes a ‘so what?’ statement, to ensure that any data captured creates meaningful insight and triggers a next best action of some description.

How to assess the impact of your digital sales aids

Using our experience we’ve compiled a 25 point remote engagement health check. In just five minutes, you’ll receive a tailored, actionable report that provides guidance on the areas of remote engagement that your organisation or team most needs to focus on.

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CLM Pro

Data-driven insights in the hands of field teams [CASE STUDY]

By Nick Woolnough /

It is fair to say that understanding your territory is only half the battle when it comes to selling effectiveness for pharma reps. However – despite being a contradiction in terms – it’s a rather big half. It’s also an area where data quality, availability and the presentation method so often come up short in the pharmaceutical industry.

To help address this, we partnered with RNAi therapeutics pharmaceutical Alnylam and industry CRM giants Veeva, to deliver a MyInsights Dashboard that truly delivers actionable territory insights to the KAMs that need them, in turn driving smarter and more informed next actions.

For more information on the project, you can download our co-authored whitepaper on the Veeva website. Below are our highlights of what made this such a successful project.

Driving adoption in the field force

Working with the Alnylam project team of senior CRM and digital specialists, there was a clear objective to use the project as a vehicle for change; ensuring that data presented to KAMs was a genuinely useful and engaging tool.

Thoughtful, rep-centric user experience design would prove to be crucial to uptake, with a stated aim among the project team to create a habit-forming experience that drove KAM adoption and enhanced their belief in the power and value of CRM.

Consulting and advising alongside the Alnylam project team, we adopted a field-centric approach – workshopping with KAMs to learn their pain points and implement design thinking to identify data-serving methods that best suited their needs.

Geomapping for a clearer territory focus

The flagship feature of the KAM dashboard – developed within the Veeva MyInsights platform – is the interactive territory map. This bespoke feature helps the KAM to visualise their territory, understand clusters and most importantly, notifies them of changes within a region which they may need to act on. 

By surfacing this information in an eye-catching way, the map view ensures that the KAMs can create target lists and plan relevant engagements based on up-to-date changes, leading to a more dynamic way of working.

Visualising every HCP touchpoint

Staying on top of your individual account planning for each HCP on your territory can be challenging for KAMs, so we sought to address this by furthering the out of the box timeline view to capture a broader range of customer interactions. Measuring a doctor’s level of advocacy and engagement would have previously involved dipping in and out of various different views within the CRM, so we made a concerted effort to harness as much useful information around interactions as possible, in one place.

The bespoke timeline view records past and planned interactions such as webinar attendance, web visits and head office interactions. Surfacing these channels in one place makes planning the next engagement with an HCP a more considered and insight-led process for the KAMs.

At twentyeightb we are on a journey to empower and inspire the multichannel rep with genuinely useful tools, so we were thrilled that this project both aligned with our mission and achieved the objectives of our client, Alnylam.

“The Veeva CRM MyInsights dashboards help our field teams obtain a better understanding of data, for planning and decision-making. They can better visualise data and the data is always current because it is in CRM”

Anthony Sclafani, director of strategic technologies at Alnylam

If you are interested in learning more about the concept of Veeva MyInsights dashboards, then check out our service page. However, if you understand the concept and are keen to undergo a journey to surface genuine insights to your field teams using Veeva MyInsights, then get in touch and we would be happy to advise you on the best path.

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Veeva my presentations
Veeva Knowledge

How to make the most of Veeva My Presentations

By James Harper /

Enabling users to build, save and edit custom presentations using pre-approved slides on Veeva CRM for iPad.

The ‘My Presentations’ function on Veeva CRM for iPad (formerly iRep) enables users to quickly and simply create custom presentations within Veeva CRM for iPad by selecting pre-approved slides from configured CLM presentations downloaded to the Veeva CRM for iPad media library.

Once a custom presentation has been created and saved, it becomes available for use with customers in the same way as a standard CLM presentation. Custom presentations also become an integral part of the Veeva CLM system and, if saved against a customer account during a call, will record standard Veeva analytics (slide use and duration). This can be analysed to provide insights at a local/market/regional/global level.

Users can amend and manage saved presentations, at any point, by accessing them via the ‘My Presentations’ window.

The source CLM presentations and the slides available to users in ‘My Presentations’ is configured centrally. Mandatory content slides can be associated to any slide to meet compliance requirements.

Updates to slides can be done centrally and pushed to users and all slides within existing custom presentations will be automatically updated when a device is synchronized.

Veeva My Presentations walk-through

Creating a custom presentation

new presentation

Users can create and name the custom presentation via the + icon in the ‘Manage My Presentations’ window. Users should be given clear guidance on effective naming convention to optimise presentation identification and management in Veeva CRM for iPad.

Accessing/using the slide library

Accessing slides

Slides available to the user for use in ‘My Presentations’ are displayed down the left hand side of the page. They are grouped by presentation and can be filtered by product using the field at the top of the menu.

Each slide is represented by a 20x15mm thumbnail and text description (max 62 characters – optimal display 40 characters or less). So it is important to adopt and implement a clear and logical convention for slide descriptors.

Building a presentation

building a presentation

User must tap a slide to add it to the custom presentation. Selected slides appear in the slide sorter window and are represented by a larger 40x30mm thumbnail and description (max 62 characters). Note: thumbnails and descriptions cannot be different in these two views, so we recommend that they are optimised for display when at their smallest on left hand side menu).

A maximum of 9 slides can be seen in the slide sorter window at any one time. A user can tap and drag slides into preferred order.

Slides that have mandatory slide(s) linked to them are identified with an orange arrow icon top right of the thumbnail. N.B: mandatory slides are not displayed on the slide sorter page but are moved automatically if the linked parent slide position is changed.

Presentation properties

custom presentation properties

The user can access and edit properties for saved custom presentations.

veeva presentation properties

Default properties are available and could potentially add other/custom properties/fields to improve user experience (e.g customer segment). Changes to properties would be implemented by client IT.

Accessing saved presentations

Access saved presentations

User created custom presentations are accessed and displayed via the standard media viewer page on Veeva CRM for iPad. They are automatically grouped by Veeva CRM for iPad under the ‘My Presentations’ directory in the folder hierarchy. For enhanced management presentations, these can be associated to existing or custom Veeva directories and filtered using the folder hierarchy function in Veeva CRM for iPad.

Presentations are represented by a thumbnail with presentation name displayed below. Veeva CRM for iPad uses the thumbnail associated to the first slide in that presentation. Compliance consideration should be given to thumbnails and presentation names as these may be seen by customers whilst the user is launching a presentation via the media viewer page.

We hope you found our guide to My Presentations useful. You can find out more about our approach to Veeva here, or get in touch to discuss your Veeva challenges.

For the administrators and the more technically minded out there we have also included some basic information on technical and configuration requirements, see below…enjoy!

The Nitty Gritty

‘My Presentations’ technical requirements (top level):

  • Target user group have access to current version of Veeva CRM on iPad/Windows Tablet
  • Client Veeva is configured with user profile distinct to target users
  • Target user profile is correctly configured to enable ‘My Presentations’ functionality (n.b also need ensuring privacy settings are in place to prevent custom presentation sharing between users). If not currently configured, client IT will need to implement (assumes no commercial/regulatory conflicts globally and at market level)
  • Source CLM presentations

Veeva configuration requirements

Required permissions for target user profile:

  • Full permissions on the CLM_Presentation_vod and CLM_Presentation_Slide_vod objects
  • Security settings on CLM_Presentation_vod must be set to private (to prevent users from receiving custom presentations created by other users)
  • Set grant access using hierarchies to false on the CLM presentation and CLM presentation slides objects to prevent managers from syncing their subordinates’ custom presentations
  • Create a sharing rule to provide users access to presentations created by content administrators (e.g. Type_vod NOT EQUAL to ‘Custom’)
  • Read/write access to the Mobile_ID_vod field on CLM_Presentation_vod and CLM_Presentation_Slide_vod objects
  • Read/write access to the Type_vod field on CLM_Presentation_vod

Optional configuration for target user profile (to improve My Presentations UX and presentation management on device):

  • To enable custom presentations to contain key messages from multiple products MULTI_PROD_USER_DEFINED_PRESENTATION_vod
  • Presentations folder hierarchy – need read permissions to the Directory_vod field on the CLM_Presentation_vod object, an active VMobile Object Configuration record for the Directory_vod object and read only access to the Directory_vod object
  • To enable user to create directories via Veeva CLM online portal (assuming have content admin rights)
    • Enable read, create, modify, delete access to the Directory_vod object.
    • Required to have edit access on Name and Parent_Directory_vod field
    • Read access to Level_vod
    • Enable access to the CLM_vod record type for the Directory_vod object
    • Enable the directory tab
    • Provide edit access to the Directory_vod field on CLM_Presentation_vod
    • Add the Directory_vod field on the appropriate page layouts for CLM_Presentation_vod.

Relevant Resources

Veeva Sunrise Logo - Banner Image
Veeva Knowledge

Veeva Sunrise UI – key interface updates to look out for

By James Harper /

Early access – take a sneak peek at the highlights and key features from Veeva’s new Sunrise User Interface.

Veeva’s all new Sunrise User Interface is a ground-up rebuild, completely refreshing the look and feel after six years.

All Veeva CRM for iPad users will receive the upgrade automatically as part of the 18R2 release August 2018.

They have focussed on streamlining the user experience, with a smoother workflow that requires fewer clicks to access information and take actions.

At its core is a dashboard providing immediate access to a wide variety of information, without having to dig through several layers of screens to locate it.

The orange bar at the top of the screen – the Sunrise bar from which the UI takes its name – provides quick access to reports. It is worth noting that this will not appear in Media Presentations as existing DSAs do not need to be redesigned to fit into a smaller screen size – the Media Player still takes over the entire screen.

graphs in Veeva sunrise

Across the bottom of the screen are icons to access the usual tasks needed to be completed during the average working day for field force representatives.

A lot of work has been put into maximising the screen real estate available for information and minimising the clutter of components and controls. The account list now spreads right across the screen.

Sunrise contact list

Also, actions can be completed directly from the account list, reducing the number of click throughs needed.

Actions in Sunrise contact list

Filtering of the account list can also be performed directly from the same screen, the search bar has moved and the entire screen width is now utilised.

filtering in sunrise contact list

There is now a combined view of account and call history information, streamlining access to data by holding everything in a single screen:

sunrise account filtering

The calendar view has been reworked to give a high level overview of diary and accounts in the same place:

calendar view rework

Comparing the new Sunrise interface to the old

The accounts screen is now far more streamlined with much more information available at a glance:

My Accounts - Comparison

And the cards in the calendar are now packed with information to make them far more useful:

My Schedule - Comparison

The Agenda view has also been reworked, again with an emphasis on providing extra information within a single screen.

Re-Design_1

Calendaring is also improved with the creation of appointments being made much easier with a direct view of the dates and times.

Re-Design_2

Certain screens have not been totally redesigned but have been re-skinned for a much cleaner and more current view.

Re-Skin

All the latest Veeva CRM updates

As Veeva Multichannel Partners, we regularly have the opportunity to review new features before they are rolled out. If you don’t want to miss our updates, make sure you subscribe to our newsletter.

Relevant Resources

Developing a web portal
Veeva Knowledge

What to expect from the all new Veeva Brand Portals

By James Harper /

With Veeva’s all new Brand Portals coming as part of their big 17R3 release in December, here’s our sneak peek of the most exciting features that are set to be unveiled.

What is a Veeva Brand Portal?

The Brand Portals will be offered as part of the current Vault licence fee and will support multiple brand levels, making it possible to have an above-brand portal with security rights for different users to the brands below that level.

What does this mean in practice? Ultimately, a single central source of global brand materials that maximises content reuse and compliance visibility. This content can then be accessed via a lower level affiliate Brand Portal where localised and approved versions can be held, accessed and reused.

Add in the ability to customise logos and colour schemes and the new Brand Portal will offer a much more bespoke, brand oriented user experience.

The Portal will also be available for Med Comms and Value Comms (Promomats) vaults, with all Vault content being accessible via these Portals. Users with access to multiple Portals land on a Portal Selector page at login and can select the Portal they want to enter from there. These Portals have the potential to become a one stop shop for many key communications projects such as Value Communications Toolkits. Keeping everything in one place and reducing the admin and compliance burden dangles the tempting potential of significant savings for Pharma. This is especially true when compared to the alternative of building and hosting such tools on various disparate generic platforms such as SharePoint, Joomla and Huddle.

 

Screenshot of Veeva Brand Portals

 

What will a Veeva Brand Portal be like to use?

This time around Veeva have really gone all out to create a bespoke user experience by introducing a number of useful new widgets and tools. Here’s the low-down on the new features.

Carousel

A slide carousel provides quick access to documents in an intuitive fashion.

Filters

A series of top level filters form a quick access toolbar for direct links to relevant materials:

  • Announcements
  • Market Access
  • Presentations
  • References
  • Videos

Highlighted materials

Further sections of the portal home page offer rapid retrieval of relevant information and ability for brand managers to direct representatives and affiliates to the items of interest.

Featured items

These are items specifically curated by the brand team.

Most popular

Automatically generated by analysis of Vault downloads.

Recently added

Automatically generated by date of upload.

Each item has a state and classification with colour coding, e.g. green for “Approved for Distribution”. This allows rapid assembly of a presentation using the most appropriate materials.

Announcements

Brand managers can set announcements on their page, alerting users to updates, perhaps highlighting new or prime content.

Searching

There is a search facility to find materials containing a given text or tag (provided the content is semantic).

Results are presented in a Tile view to allow for rapid identification of the correct asset.
Faceted Search allows for filtering of the results to narrow down to the area required (e.g. CLM Presentations, Market Access Materials, References).

It is also possible to filter by owner, reviewer, country, status and product. So for example you could specify all UK materials for Cholecap which are waiting for approval and have Joe Brown as the reviewer.

Document metrics

Vault now allows capture of metrics on viewing, downloading and rendition downloads of materials from Vault.

  • Total document activities
  • Total downloads
  • Total copies
  • Usage by channel (E.g. each brand accessing common materials – helicopter view)
  • Most popular document types
  • Most popular documents
  • Most active users

These metrics are available in an easy-to-view dashboard.

Referencing in Vault

All references are now linked up – blue highlights in the rendition within Vault connect up to the source reference document that will appear in a popup window. The specific aspect of a reference document will be found, with no need to switch into annotation mode or review one by one in the annotation pane.

It’s also now possible to link internally to a document, in the same manner as using # anchors in HTML pages.

Bookmarks now connect directly to the area in the document where the bookmark was placed. These features enable users to navigate large and unwieldy documents much more quickly and easily.

Are Veeva Brand Portals a positive development?

With these enhancements, Veeva have moved away from Vault being a simple repository with a user interface geared towards more IT-savvy users. It is now possible to create an attractive, intuitive and easy to access portal to pull together content that is accessible to all. Veeva Brand Portals looks set to maximise the benefits of a single source approach to digital asset management and further streamline the creation-approval-distribution cycle – a development that Pharma has been crying out for. We’re sure that the team at twentyeightb won’t be the only ones looking forward to Veeva rolling this out in December.

For more information look out for Veeva’s Brand Portal Public Education Webinar to be held this January 2018. Or if you’re interested in learning more about the services that we offer as Veeva CLM development specialists, feel free to get in touch with our team of experts.

Relevant Resources